Teachers in England have rejected a pay offer from the Government
that would have seen salaries rise by 4.5% on average next year,
alongside a one-off payment of £1,000 for this year.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU), the Association of
School and College Leaders (ASCL), the National Association of
Head Teachers (NAHT) and NASUWT earlier this month voted to turn
down the offer.
Instead, the NEU will hold two more strike days in the summer
term, causing further disruption for students and parents.
The
offer was presented to the unions in late March and included
significant new investment for schools to fund pay rises and
commitments to reducing workload by five hours a week.
The decision is disappointing and means less money for teachers
this year and possible disruption to students preparing for
exams.
What is the Government doing to prevent further strike
actions in schools?
Our priority is making sure children get the education that they
deserve and do not have to face further days of disruption,
especially as public exams approach.
The pay offer followed
a week of intensive talks between unions and Education Secretary
.
The offer included a one-off payment of £1,000 for the current
academic year, on top of the 5.4% average pay rise teachers
received in September 2022.
Teachers and leaders were also offered an average pay rise of
4.5% from September 2023. This is above the Office for Budget
Responsibility (OBR) forecast for inflation at the end of this
calendar year, which is 2.9%, with inflation forecast to fall
further next year.
The starting salary for new teachers outside London would have
risen by 7.1% to £30,000.
The unions also rejected an offer to create a new taskforce to
help reduce workload by an average of five hours a week for
teachers and leaders.
Was the pay offer fully funded?
Yes – schools would have been fully funded to meet the costs of
the offer.
This included an additional £620 million of funding in 2023 to
2024, to pay in full for the one-off payment of £1,000 for each
teacher (pro-rata for part-time teachers) and enable schools to
pay salary increases that go above the funding they have already
received.
Schools are already going to receive an additional £2 billion in
2023 to 2024, and in 2024 to 2025, taking school funding to its
highest level in history.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) also published an
assessment of schools’ funding and costs, which comes to similar
conclusions. You can read more about the details of the offer
here.
What happens next?
Teacher pay for next year will now go through an independent pay review
process as usual.
The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) makes recommendations on
the pay of teachers in England and reports to the Secretary of
State for Education and the Prime Minister.
As is normal, the STRB will look only at pay for next year,
meaning teachers will not receive a one-off payment for this year
(2022 to 2023).
Will there be more strikes and when are they?
The NEU has further strikes
planned for:
- Thursday, 27 April (England)
- Tuesday, 2 May (England)
Previous strike action by the NEU took place on:
- Wednesday, 1 February (England and Wales)
- Tuesday, 28 February (Northern, North West, and Yorkshire and
Humber regions)
- Wednesday, 1 March (East Midlands, Western, Eastern regions)
- Thursday, 2 March (London, South East, South West regions and
Wales)
- Wednesday, 15 March (England and Wales)
- Thursday, 16 March (England and Wales)
Will the upcoming strikes affect exams?
We understand that a new round of teacher strikes is especially
concerning for pupils, parents and carers who are preparing to
sit exams and assessments in the summer term, such as SATs, GCSEs
and A Levels. It is unclear yet if exams will be disrupted.
If schools need to restrict attendance due to a lack of staff, we
have asked that vulnerable children, children of critical workers
and pupils who are due to take public examinations (like GCSEs)
and other formal assessments are prioritised.
Where schools are not able to provide face-to-face education for
all pupils, we encourage them to provide remote education to
ensure every child has access to learning.
Will schools be closed again if teachers go on
strike?
In the event of strike action at a school, the school leaders or
local authority that manages the school will take all reasonable
steps to keep the school open for as many pupils as possible. We
have produced updated guidance to help them do this and to
minimise disruption to children and families.
In some schools there may be little or no impact from strike
action but in others it may mean that changes are made to the way
they operate. Schools will usually let parents know how they are
being affected but if you are unsure, you should contact your
child’s school.
Unless school leaders inform you that the school is closed or
cannot provide a place, then you still have a legal duty to send
your children to school unless they are unwell.
The Education Secretary is encouraging teachers to inform their
school leaders in advance whether they intend to take strike
action or not, to help schools and families plan ahead.
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